Weird Issues with PC

Hi
I have been experiencing some weird issues with my PC recently:

1. The desktop freezes (stopping & restarting explorer.exe seems to work)
2. I have been unable to launch programs (they appear in Task Manager as processes but don't launch)
3. Google Chrome freezes and is intermittent
4. Unable to Shutdown (says installing update 1 of 1 but never completes) so have to turn off manually

I did install TuneUp Utilities 2011 which may have had something to do with the errors, I have since uninstalled it fully.

I've been on the Malware forum and had help from TimW who cannot see any issues with malware, and suggested posting here...

I'd be grateful if someone could give me pointers to resolving my problems.

System Details

• BIOS: Phoenix Tech ASUS P5N-E SLI Rev 0703
• OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7600 x86
• Processor: Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
• Graphics: Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT (1.7 GHz, 1GB DDR2) x2
• Memory: 3.25GB (8GB installed)

At the moment it seems to be running relatively ok again - it's not trying to install an update when I switch off and is actually switching off itself again now - but I'd still appreciate an idea of what the problem could have been if possible

 

Did a search and it's not there Tim - checked Hidden files too... looks like it cleaned itself!

 

Apparently they have?!

Heaven knows what happened though or why...
Thanks for the help anyway - if I get any further problems I'll post back.

 

Lol Tim - I don't think your wife has been near my PC has she???

Anyway, here's an update on my weird problems:

On startup today the PC informed me that it was installing Win 7 SP1... didnt give me an option or not.

This failed.

Now when I boot up I get the logon screen and then after that all I get is a black screen, no desktop/taskbar or icons - just the mouse pointer.
I can CTRL-ALT-DEL to get the Task Manager loaded which only shows that there are 30 processes running (normally there are about 60 I think).
I have tried to stop and restart explorer.exe which normally reloads the desktop but this does nothing now.

So, I'm stuck with a PC with no desktop or anything...

Help!

 

At the moment I tried to boot to "Last Known Good" and its hanging at the Welcome screen - should I turn off and reboot to a safe mode instead?
(It's been hanging at Welcome for about 15 mins now)

I had found this during a search : http://blog.acadianacomputerrepair....-error-Windows-7-Service-Pack-1-Option-2.aspx

and was going to give that a try?

 

OK turned off as nothing was happening at all...

Now booted into Safe Mode and have all icons, taskbar, etc...
What should I do now?

 

OK done that, now it's rebooted but hanging at "Preparing to configure windows, Do not turn off your computer"... been stalled there for a while now.
The dots at the end of Windows are moving ... and I DO have HD activity. ?
Shall I just wait...

UPDATE:
30 mins hanging on that screen so far.

 

IMHO, yes. But if it goes on for over an hour, then see if you can hit CTRL + ALT + DEL. I've ran into an issue once on a computer that seemed to do that, but, after pressing those keys, I was able to login.

 

OK its been an hour - no good with ctrl-alt-del it's just hanging.

 

Odd that. If ya want another opinion...Force shutdown, reboot. I hate do to that personally....but it appears ye are stuck.

Though, I do remember back in the day, when I upgraded my xp box to vista beta, and it took 3 hours. I doubt ye are going through the same situation. So, yeah, hard reset the computer. or wait another hour. Up to ye.

 

Or try to get into safe mode.

 

Ok, in Safe Mode again now...

EDIT:
Now checking msconfig in Safe Mode shows that all the startup programs are disabled?

 

The "Configuring Windows" screen in safe mode doesnt hang...
The "Configuring Windows" screen in normal mode hangs for ever...

Could it be a registry issue after the failed SP1 installation?

Any changes I am making in Safe Mode are only being applied if I reboot into Safe Mode again, normal mode does not appear to be processing them.

 

OK I may be onto something:
I've finally managed to get back to the Windows Black Screen of Nothingness and I can run the Windows Task Manager.
Looking at the Services tab, they are nearly all stopped? Surely that's not right.

I've left it with the black screen and Task Manager window open then this happened:

• Got a pop-up saying System had been successfully restored
• Taskbar appeared
• Desktop appeared
• Icons appeared
• Processes in Task Manager jumped up (back) to over 70
• Services (in Services Tab) started running

I havent got a blooming clue whats going on with this machine at the moment?

 

Although the desktop/taskbar & icons have re-appeared the system is still not working.
I cant click on anything and if I hover the mouse over the taskbar I get the busy icon...

I also can't run Task Manager again (it disappeared), the screen goes black and says that it can#t be opened so press Esc or manually shut down the pc.

I'm off to bed now - need to clear my mind.

 

Richard, I just had a quick check of your logs from the malware thread. If you run Regedit, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows nt\currentversion\winlogon and double-click the entry for Userinit, make sure it only contains C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe and nothing else. There appears to be a stray , which might block userinit from loading.

 

Though, with the above, recommend in safe mode.

 

Good Morning.

Ok back to the issues:

• Unable to boot into any safe mode!
• Tried booting to Last Known Good and it ran it's own CHKDSK - it said it found errors and repaired them by itself... "Inserting index entries into $II of file 9" and "Inserting index entries into $DH of file 9". It then cleaned up and attempted to boot as normal which resulted in the same black/blank desktop.
• Windows Memory Diagnostics show shows no errors
• Booted to Safe Mode (finally)...
• Ran Regedit and removed the stray "," then restarted
• Log on screen OK - then Black & Blank desktop still... I've got the mouse on the screen but absolutely nothing else.
• Rebooted to Safe Mode and waiting to see if anyone can help...

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/5b94b775-992e-4f48-b3ff-c89b3cf45e82
I found this on google:
"Had the usual symptoms - Windows 7, could log in, then black screen with only the mouse pointer. Sometimes I could hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to get to the task manager, other times even that wasn't working. Had recently installed some updates and a new video driver, which was a total red herring because I spent time trying to undo those changes. Tried a system restore, checked the registry as outlined in this thread, and a few other things. Was almost ready to chuck it all and restore from backup when I tried using another computer to go to my Windows Home Server and get some software. Turns out the WHS was responding to pings, but was not accepting any network connections. Since my black screen computer had several things redirected there (Documents, Pictures, some libraries), it apparently was causing the hang during boot. Another symptom I discovered late in the game was that eventually (10-12 mins) the black screen system would finally pick up and continue the logon like nothing had happened.

Anyway, I'm assuming something similar could happen for any network system that is not able to get to its shares on a hosted server. After a reset of the WHS system (and it had apparently hung after installing some Microsoft updates) everything was humming along again."

 

OK following on from my previous post:

Thinking about the system looking for a network drive - I have a network drive that isn't turned on.
In Safe Mode I disconnected the network drive and restarted.
Rebooted in Normal Mode and voila, everything is back the way it should be! Desktop/Taskbar & Icons are all back ok...
HOWEVER: opening a program causes the system to hang now. Not able to do anything even ctrl-alt-del once the system is hung.

So for some reason the system was hanging when it couldn't log on/access the network drive?

• What should I do now?
• Can I check anything or restore files?
• Should I check the registry for errors and if so with what?

EDIT:
Another question, is it possible to use my Win 7 Install Disk to re-install the OS without loving my files/programs?

 

At this point Richard, I think a repair of Windows might be the best thing to do, considering there were filesystem entries 'fixed' by ChkDsk earlier. It should be safest if you begin the process from within Windows, run the setup from the DVD.

 

The system is now stalling when I open a window, so I cant realistically run the setup from within Windows.
Can I do this ok by booting to the CD instead?
Will it delete any of my files or programs?

 

I don't think it can be done booting from the DVD Have you tried via Start > run > and browsing to the setup.exe on the DVD?

EDIT: Try running SFC /scannow - you might need to do this several times to get it all straight. Then try the Repair option from booting to the DVD, again, you may need to do this several times to fix everything found.

 

Just want to check, should I be doing this in Normal or Safe modes?

 

I don't think it matters.

 

Cant get into Normal mode again now!
So, ran sfc from Safe mode - did a scan from C:\Windows\System32 and it reported "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations"

When I boot from the DVD it gives me an Install option - is this the same as Repair (or do I use one of the Repair options)?

 

You should try the repair options, at least 2x.

 

Booting from the DVD - the only options I get are "Install" or "System Recovery Options"

Using System Recovery:

• Startup Repair shows no errors!
• System Restore only gives me 3 restore points (selected all 3 during previous attempts and none help). Choosing any of the Restore points gives me "An unspecified error occurred during System Restore (0x8000ffff)" and is unable to complete the Restore
• Windows Memory Diagnostic shows no errors

If I choose Install:
It gives me an upgrade option but then doesnt allow me to perform the upgrade/install

At the moment the system is pretty much useless...

 

Well, I'm still here...

Googling away, looking at all sorts of weird and wonderful reasons for getting a BSOD (Black Screen Of Death).

I have noticed that when I'm running in Normal mode and have the BSOD, the Nvidia Stereoscopic driver is listed as "Starting" but seemingly stalled. Could this be a cause for the BSOD?

I'm currently in Safe Mode trying to download a new driver for my dual Nvidia GeForce 8500GT cards. I'm hoping that I will be able to install these in Safe Mode...

The saga continues.

 

Just install the basic nVidia driver for the time being, no need for any of the fancy stuff you probably don't or can't use.

 

In Safe Mode - downloaded and installed new nVidia drivers seemed to go ok and checking the driver details does report that the drivers have been updated.

In Normal Mode - still same BSOD problem.

In Safe Mode - uninstalled the 3d part of the nVidia drivers. Also now backing up my music & photos to an external drive "just in case"...

Will see what happens in Normal Mode once the backup has completed (about an hour).

I'm getting very frustrated with this BSOD issue. I really dont want to have to do a clean install.

 

Another day - another doughnut...

Turned on the pc today and let it run into Normal Mode - same issues, Black Screen Of Death but today I am unable to get the Task Manager to appear.

Downloaded the Prevx repair for BSOD (nothing ventured, nothing gained). This installed ok.
Restarted in Normal Mode - BSOD again and unable to get Task Manager to load.

I have noticed that in BSOD if I tap the power button, the mouse pointer gets a "busy" rotator on it for a second or two. Could this be reporting a possible start-up power issue causing the BSOD?

Clutching at straws here.

When the BSOD has disappeared in the past days the desktop, icons, etc are all back in there normal places. Wouldn't this suggest that this is "simply" a start-up sequence issue rather than something fatal that requires a re-install?

 

Did another System Restore which did enable me to get my Task Manager back and the following seems to be occurring:

On Normal Start-up the Processes are severely limited (during the BSOD). I have multiple instances of several processes (like wisptis.exe and taskeng.exe).
The Nvidia 3D Service appears to be stuck at "Starting". I cant stop that service as it hasnt started!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get the system to boot properly - preferably by doing something in Safe Mode?

 

Right I need some help with this please...

I'd like to remove the nVidia drivers completely and start with new video drivers. I will only be able to do this in Safe Mode however. Can anyone tell me the best way to do this please?

I'd also like to know what are the safest drivers for my cards to use to get the BSOD resolved. The cards are Dual nVidia 8500 GT with 1gb on each card. Any links to the suggested new drivers would be really appreciated.

I think the failed SP1 update has screwed up the drivers. The reason that I think this is simply a video issue is as follows:

• The Welcome and Logon screens are appearing perfectly, no changes, distortions, etc.
• After I enter my password all that appears is a black screen and a white cursor. If I am lucky I am able to start Task manager and this is also displayed perfectly.

On random occasions that the BSOD goes away, the original desktop is displayed perfectly... however, after only a few moments everything freezes if I try to open anything.

Surely, if this was an error with the HDD or something physical I would not get the above (normal desktop) back at any time?

 

Try booting with just 1 of those 8500's installed?

 

Help!!!

Still here staring at my blank, black desktop...

I've done the following:

• removed one of the nVidia 8500 cards
• removed nVidia driver folder in Program Files
• rolled back to a 2008 nVidia driver
• disconnected network drive

Sometimes I get the original desktop back, but when I try to run or open anything the system hangs.

Looking at the recently installed MS Updates I have noticed the following: KB 2534366. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2534366

The recent updates are:
KB2533552 - 25/05/2011 - not able to uninstall
KB2534366 - 11/05/2011 - able to uninstall

Both of these updates relate to a back screen issue with SP1...?!

I can't run MS Update in Safe Mode and given that I can't run in Normal mode, what do I do?


I have also noticed that I currently have six folders back (?) from before in the root folder that TimW suggested I could remove:
These are numerical folder names and contain MpMiniSigStub files only.
I also have a folder in the root called $WINDOWS.~BT
All of these folders relate to MS Updates, but I don't know what is trying to download or when?

 

Hi Richard, I sort of had a similar problem in XP, I removed my network wireless card completely, and got the puter working again. Have you tried that? Just take it out. Mine was a lynksys wireless BTW.:confused

It would load to the Windows screen, then go black, and my keyboard would turn off, and it would reboot and cycle endlessly. Not exactly the same but...

 

You could try to enable the MSI installer to work in Safe Mode.

 

what happens when you press ctrl+alt+delete when you're staring at that black screen? does task manager launch?

so are you no longer getting hangs during startup? and has windows update finished installing the updates? or does it want to try to install updates every single time you update?

 

Hi, I don't have a wireless network card on here, it's hard-wired to the router. The networking is on the motherboard and it's a "nVidia nForce Networking Controller" - I think it's working fine to be honest, but I do appreciate the response.

Given that the two latest Windows Updates relate to Black Screen issues, I'd like to explore that route further if anyone can help?

 

Here's the process:
Normal Boot Up - Welcome/Logon Screen - Enter Password - Black Screen (with moveable mouse) - sometimes able to run Task Manager, sometimes not.

As far as I am able to tell Windows ISNT trying to download any updates still, but I cant be sure to be honest.

I'm presuming that the folders that are being installed in the root may be due to one of the updates that I listed before not being installed properly, so it's trying to install them again and again.

 

thanks for clearing that up, i've seen this issue before, and it seems that most of the time, once you replace winlogon.exe, userinit.exe, csrss.exe, lsass.exe, and explorer.exe it seems to fix itself.

the easiest way imo is to use the expand command while in the recovery console, if don't already have it installed, you will need to boot off a cd that has it.

direct dl: http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

source: http://forums.pcpitstop.com/index.php?/topic/150212-boot-to-recovery-console-wo-xp-cd/

once you create this bootable cd, using another working computer with imgburn or some other type of burning software, get into the recovery console and type the following cmds to expand the files needed:

map - usually your cd-rom drive is d: unless you have multiple.
you're going to want to select the drive with the recovery console cd in it.

once you find your cd/dvd rom drive, type the correct letter of the drive in the console: e.g. d:
now type dir
if it's the correct drive, you should see a folder in this drive called i386
if you see i386, type in: cd i386

now type in the following commands, and when asked, overwrite the existing files:

expand winlogon.ex_ c:\windows\system32
expand userinit.ex_ c:\windows\system32
expand csrss.ex_ c:\windows\system32
expand lsass.ex_ c:\windows\system32
expand explorer.ex_ c:\windows
exit

reboot pc and see if problems are fixed
all this does is install brand new copies of the files in question.

good luck, let me know if i need to clarify anymore of the directions

 

thisisu...
Thanks for the reply, really appreciate the help!

I have checked the size of one of the files on the BSOD desktop (in safe mode) against my laptop (in normal mode) - winlogon.
Desktop - winlogon - 279kb
Laptop - winlogon - 280kb
...so there is a difference?

Anyway, I have burnt the rc.iso to a new cd.
Looking on that new CD, there is a folder called i386 but there is no winlogon file in it, indeed there is no winlogon file anywhere on that new cd?

Also I noticed that this is linked to an XP forum - does this make a difference as I am trying to repair Win7?

Sorry for being a bit thick - my heads spinning to be honest!

 

Right, I've got copies of all those files now, from my Win7 install disc - now all I need to do is replace/overwrite them?

 

My apologies, I thought you were using Windows XP. You're right, use the windows 7 install disc to replace those files. It's a bit more complicated though getting the files. They must be extracted from a file called "install.wim", which should be in a folder called "Sources".
You're going to want to extract them to the same location as i provided above (c:\windows\system32 mostly, except the explorer.exe file which is in c:\windows). And you're going to need a way to extract them, which I don't think can be done from the windows 7 recovery console.

What I typically use is a boot CD called "Hiren", and then there's a "Mini Windows XP" feature to it that's very handy. It has built in 7zip which is then used to extract the files contained in "install.wim".

hiren can be downloaded from here: http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

if you wanted to use Ultimate boot CD instead: it's on majorgeeks: http://majorgeeks.com/Ultimate_Boot_CD_UBCD_d4981.html

Good luck to you if you decide to take this route. It may not even work to be honest, i've had about 70% success rate with it on other customer's computers

 

No problem - I'm just glad for the help!
I've extracted all the files from the CD and replaced them (had to take ownership, etc of the original files).
Booted into Normal mode and... the desktop, icons and everything is back!
However, the mouse pointer is "busy", and I can't click or run anything...

One step forwards at last maybe?
Any ideas...